Washing-machine.



No. 757,896. PATENTED APR. 19, 1904.

G. DIETZ. WASHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED D30. 7, 1898. 110 MODEL. 2 8HEBTSBHEET 1.

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No. 757,896. PATENTED APR. 19, 1904. 0, DIETZ. WASHING MACHINE.

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CONRAD DIETZ, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,896, dated April 19, 1904:. Application filed December 7,1898. Serial No. 698,570. (No model.)

To all whom, it Wmy concern.-

Be it known that I, CONRAD DIETZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvernents in I/VashingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in washing-machines, and especially in that class of machines wherein are employed reciprocating rubbers for washing the clothes.

The object of my invention is in part to improve and simplify the construction of the rubbing devices, so as to render them stronger and less liable to collapse, and in part to simplify and improve the means for holding the rubbers in place.

My invention consists in certain novel features of the construction, combination, and arrangement of the several parts of the improved washing-machine whereby certain important advantages are attained and the machine is made simpler, cheaper, and otherwise better adapted and more convenient for use than various other forms of washing-machines heretoforeemployed, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claim.

In the drawings, which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section taken vertically through the tub or casing and lid of the machine, the rubbers being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the tub or casing, the lower rubber being shown in place therein. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken transversely through the tub or casing of the machine, the lower rubber being also shown in section in the plane of its axis. Fig. 4 is a view showing one of the side frames of the lower rubber, detached and enlarged, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken through said frame in the plane of the line 00 w in Fig. 4 and showing the means for securing the slats of the rubbing-surface thereto. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail plan view showing the construction of slotted guide for the upper rubber, and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through the lid or cover and showing said guide in side elevation. Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but showing one of the slotted guides for the lower rubber; and Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7, showing the guide for the lower rubber.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the tub of the machine, wherein the wash-water and clothes to be washed are placed, and 2 indicates the legs thereof. 3 indicates the lid or cover hinged to said tub at its rear edge and adapted to be raised to afford access to the clothes within, and 4 indicates the crank-shaft journaled transversely across the rear end of said cover and provided with a crank 5, to which is coupled a rod 6, the forward end of which is connected to an arm 7, which passes down through an opening in the top of the lid or cover and is secured to the upper rubber 8. The arm 7 is, as shown in Fig. 1, provided with a laterally-projecting bearing 9, which passes through an opening formed in the rod 6 and is provided with a lug 10, adapted to pass through a niche or opening 11 at one side of the opening through which said bearing 9 is passed when the rod 6 is uncoupled from the crank 5 and swung into the proper position. When said rod is coupled to the crank 5, the niche 11 is moved out of registry with the lug 10, so that the rod and arm are held locked securely together. The crank 5 is also coupled to a link 12, which is passed down through an opening in the lid or cover 3 and is detachably connected at its lower end to the rear part of the lower rubber 13, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The lower rubber 13 is formed with metal side frames 14 of semicircular form, each provided at its upper part with a diametrical brace or cross-bar 15, at the central part of which is formed an integral outwardly-projecting pivot-lug 16, adapted to support the rubber in its oscillatory movement.

The curved main portion of each side frame 14 is formed with amarginal projecting flange or lip 17 and with openings or perforations 18, arranged in a curved series just inside said flange or lip and serving for the passage of nails 19 orthe like,'which engage the ends of the strips or slats 20, connecting the side frames together and forming the rubbing-surface. The ends of thelips or flanges 17 of the frames are bent or turned over inwardly toward the centrally-arranged pivot-lugs 16 of the rubber, as shown at 17 and said bent or turned end portions of the lips or flanges serve by engagement with the end slats 20 of the rubbing-surface to brace and strengthen the entire series of slats and to reduce the strains upon the nails 19 or other means by which the slats are held to the frames 14. The rubbingsurface formed by the slats 20 is on the inner or upper face of said slats, and the lips or flanges 17 take over the outer or under faces" of the slats at the ends thereof, so that, as will be obvious, the lips or flanges are opposite to the rubbing-surface and serve to strengthen the attachment between the slats and frames.

The sides of the tub 1 are provided at or near the central parts of their inner sides with alined recesses 21 cut in their upper parts,

the upper ends of said recesses opening at the upper edges of the sides of the tub, and said recesses are formed with undercut or beveled side walls 22, adapted to receive and hold the dovetailed sides of U-shaped guide-plates 23, having slots 24. in their outer sides to receive and permit vertical play of the pivotlugs 16 of the lower rubber 13. The bottom of each guide-plate 23 is provided, as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9, with a raised central wearingsurface, upon which the lug 16 is adapted to rest when the rubber 13 is in place in the tub.

The recesses 22 do not extend entirely through the sides of the tub 1, so that walls 22 are formed outside of said recesses to prevent the escape of water from the tub at the pivots of the lower rubber, and, further, the dovetailed sides of the plates 23 serve by engagement with the undercut walls of the recesses 22 to hold the guide-plates securely to the sides of the tub, thereby dispensing altogether with the employment of screws or other attaching means therefor.

The upper rubber 8'is arranged to oscillate between the side frames 14 of the lower rubber, so that its rubbing-face may operate in conjunction with the rubbing-face formed of the slats 20 to wash the clothes, ,and said upper rubber is provided with pivot-lugs 26, adapted to engage slots 27, formed in guideplates 28, held in recesses 30, formed centrally in the inner faces of the sides of' the lid 3 of the machine. The guide-plates 28 are formed with dovetailed sides to engage the undercut walls 29 of the recesses 30, in which they are held in a manner similar to the guide-plates 23, above described. The recesses 30 are open at the top edges of the sides of the lid or cover, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and the guide-plates are held therein by means of the top 31 of said lid or cover, which closes the tops of said recesses, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 7. Springs 32 are arranged in the recesses 30 to bear at their lower ends upon the pivot lugs 26 and hold the upper rubber pressed down elastically upon the clothes in the tub 1 and also to prevent rattling of the said rubber when the lid or cover 3, by which it is carried, is raised. The springs are coiled in a diameter larger than the width of the slots 27 in the guide-plates, so that they are prevented from being displaced, and the said guide-plates are provided at their upper ends with tie-plates 34, extending across and closing the upper ends of the slots 27 and forming stops to 'limit the upward movement of the rubber, and at their lower ends with raised central wearing-surfaces 33, on which the lugs 26 rest.

The forward part of the tub 1 is formed with a drip-chamber 35, arranged in front of the wall 36 of the part of the tub in which the clothes are held while being washed and adapted to receive the water drained from the clothes by the wringer, which is usually se cured to the front wall of said chamber. Said chamber 35 is provided with an inclined bottom 37, separated from the lower edge of the front wall 36 of the clothes-chamber by a narrow space or opening 38, communicating with the said chamber and adapted to discharge into the same the water wrung from the clothes.

in the operation of the machine when the shaft4 is turned the movement thereof is imparted to the upper and lower rubbers 8 and 13 to simultaneously reciprocate the same in opposite directions, whereby the clothes held in the tub between said rubbers are operated upon by the rubbing-faces of the respective rubbers and cleansed. The sides of the lower rubber 13 being open permit of a free circulation of the wash-water from within said rubber to the space in the tub outside thereof, and vice versa, so that the whole volume of water contained in the tub is utilized for washing the clothes. It will also be'seen that the machine is capable of considerable modification without material departure from the scope and spirit of my invention, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself tothe precise form and arrangement of the several parts herein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a washing-machine, the combination of a tub, a lower rubber mounted therein, a lid or cover having recesses provided with under out side Walls and formed in the inner surfaces of the side walls of the lid or cover with their tops opening at the top edges of said walls and closed by the top of the lid or cover,

ings and means to operate the rubbers, substantially as set forth.

CONRAD DIETZ.

Witnesses:

OREN MORRIS, JAMEs N. RAMSEY. 

